Free The Chocolate Moose Motive: A Chocoholic Mystery by JoAnna Carl Page B

too.” Sissy took two deep breaths before she went on. “I stopped at the top of the stairs and called to her. Then I flashed my flashlight around. Helen was lying in the sand at the foot of the stairs.”
    “Did you go down to her?”
    “Oh, yes! I thought maybe I could help her. But I couldn’t find a pulse. And her hand was limp when I touched it. When I saw the angle of her head”—Sissy held a tissue to her mouth and blinked rapidly—“I was careful not to move her.”
    “Did you call the cops right away?”
    “I tried. But my cell phone didn’t have any service, so I thought of Lee and Joe.”
    “How did you know where they live?”
    “Somebody told me. Lee? Maybe Lee mentioned it. Or somebody told me they lived right across Lake Shore Drive from the Garretts. Dick Garrett brought a big fish out for my grandmother to mount.”
    “There are houses closer to the beach. Did you think of going to one of them?”
    “I was afraid to. I mean—well, I was scared.”
    “Why? Did you think Helen hadn’t had an accident?”
    “I didn’t know what had happened to her. I guess I was scared because—well, partly it was all this gossip, I guess. You know, people thinking I killed Buzz. And here I’d found a body. I didn’t want it all to get started again.”
    “I can understand that, Sissy. I can understand that fear making you run away, maybe denying you’d found Mrs. Ferguson’s body. But why would that make you afraid to go to the closest house?”
    Sissy’s head drooped. “You’ll think it was stupid.”
    “Try me.”
    “I know it was just my imagination running away with me.”
    “Try me.”
    Sissy sighed again and looked at Joe. He nodded encouragingly.
    She burst out suddenly. “I thought there was somebody on the beach!”
    Hogan blinked solemnly. “Well, it’s a public beach.”
    “I know! But this guy just stood there. I thought he was watching me.”
    “Did you speak? Call out?”
    “Yes. I yelled, ‘Help!’ But he didn’t come toward me. He sort of faded into the trees over on the left. I got scared! I dropped Helen’s hand, and I ran back up the stairs, and I jumped in the car and locked the doors.”
    Her face looked agonized. “And now I’m not even sure there was anybody there! But after that, I was afraid to go to a strange house. I came here because I didn’t think Joe and Lee were likely to kill me! I ran off and left poor Helen lying there because I was scared, and maybe I could have helped her!”
    I wanted to give Sissy a big Texas hug and tell her not to blame herself. That must have been a terrifying experience. Who could have been there, lurking in the dark? I wondered if Hogan and his crew had found any trace of the person. Or had it been Sissy’s imagination? At any rate, she didn’t need to feel guilty about running for help.
    Hogan nodded reassuringly. “At that point, Sissy, I’m sure there was nothing to be done for Helen, so you don’t need to beat yourself up over leaving her.”
    She reached for a tissue. “I know. I’m sure she was already dead. I just hate to admit I was such a coward.”
    “Running away from a man who hangs back in the shadows—after you’ve just found a body—doesn’t seem cowardly to me. It sounds smart.”
    “But I wasn’t sure there was anybody there.” She looked at Hogan. “Did you find any tracks?”
    “We’ll have to look again in the daylight. Now, Sissy, I’d like to keep your car until tomorrow. Joe? Can you and Lee take Sissy home?”
    We agreed, of course. We all piled into Joe’s truck, even though we had to sit three abreast. At least nobody had to crane his neck to talk.
    “I can’t believe Chief Jones doesn’t think I’m involved in Helen’s death in some way,” Sissy said.
    “Lawyers are taught to be cautious, and we try to get that across to our clients,” Joe said. “So I’m going to warn you to be careful when you talk to Hogan again.”
    “He doesn’t seem to think I had anything to